With performances set for Hendersonville and a a premier performance at Asheville’s Hazel Robinson Amphitheater July 27 will be a red-letter date in Folkmoot history.

The Hendersonville performance is a matinee – 2 p.m. at Blue Ridge Community College – a traditional Folkmoot appearance in recent years. The Hendersonville audience turns out well and it always very appreciative of the dancers’ efforts and grace.

As it does with all of the Montford Park Players’ presentations, the outdoor amphitheatre on a cool Smoky Mountain summer evening will provide a glorious backdrop for the pageantry and spectacular that is a Folkmoot performance of folk dancing from around the globe.

The Montford Park Players bring Shakespeare and other classic plays to the mountains of Western North Carolina, believing that Shakespeare is a vital part of the region’s common heritage. The theatre company began in 1973, at the municipal park on Montford Avenue, with a rendition of Shakespeare’s ever-popular pastoral comedy As You Like It. The theatre was constructed in 1983 and inaugurated with Romeo and Juliet.

The Folkmoot Box Office can be reached by phone during business hours: 828-452-2997 , ext. 207.

Folkmoot 2016 runs through July 31, with new parades in Asheville and Franklin), cultural events, festivals within the festival and – of course – those glorious, dramatic and colorful dance performances at venues all over Western North Carolina.

Folkmoot performers are primarily college students who are acting as cultural ambassadors for their home countries.

For the 2016 Festival groups will travel from China, the Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Ghana, Japan, Peru, Poland, Romania and a special U.S-Mexico collaboration. The 2016 Festival will also include performances by the Eastern Band of Cherokee and other local Appalachian dance groups and bluegrass bands .

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Folkmoot, literally a “meeting of the people,” provides programs based on cultural exchange, designed to build global relationships, foster cultural understanding and develop community prosperity. Folkmoot creates opportunities for individuals and communities across the globe to build a deeper sense of connection, mutual respect and shared purpose.

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About Folkmoot

Folkmoot is an international folk festival held since 1984 in Waynesville, North Carolina and surrounding communities. During its history, the two-week event has featured around 200 groups from approximately 100 countries. The Southeast Tourism Society has named Folkmoot USA one of its top twenty events for 20 years. The Folkmoot USA non-profit organization has its headquarters in the former Hazelwood Elementary School.

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